Waking Badger

All credit goes to Sean for the name, Walking Badger

I’ve updated the weight loss chart a bit. I now include an official weight from 6/19/2009 before I started tracking it myself. This has enlongated the chart a bit, but I think it is a more accurate example of the weight that has been lost. So, now instead of starting at 6/29/2009 and 364 pounds, I’m starting at 6/19/2009 and 368.5 pounds. I’ve actually been a bit heavier before that point, but as I have no good weight/date information, I’m sticking with this one.

Given all of that, I’m now down 32.3 pounds as of today. I’m keeping up with walking at least 30 minutes pretty much every day and quite often I go a bit longer. I hadn’t been tracking distance very often as my Nike+ sensor in my shoe is dead (need to replace today) and I’ve been walking inside the mall, so GPS is useless as well. However, last night I walked outside for 31 minutes and scored 1.39 miles. I would imagine that puts my recent walks at between 1.3 and 1.5 miles. I hope to replace the Nike+ sensor today so I can get some more valid data when we go to Southpoint Mall in a little bit.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I had my first follow-up with my surgeon post-gastric bypass. He said that all is going well. Incisions are healing up nicely and he thinks the weightloss is going well. He says I might even be a bit ahead of the curve at this point. I got some weight measurements from them that were done with their fancy scale, which I have to assume is more accurate than mine (Seems to be showing about 2 pounds lower than mine).

368.5 pounds – Test results visit prior to surgery (6/19/2009)

339.5 pounds – Yesterday’s post-surgery follow-up (7/17/2009)

So, according to their official numbers, I’ve lost 29 pounds. The goal weight range they have set for me (based on ideal weight and projected loss) is 218 – 268 pounds. Obviously, I’m aiming for the lower number, so I have 121.5 pounds left to go. I will be sticking with the results from my scale for all charting and such on this site as I don’t have unlimited daily access to the “super” scale at the doctor’s office.

They also told me that the diet is a bit flexible if I’m eating things that I work through with my nutritionist. This means that in week 5, I’m going to get to add a pizza made using either a low-carb flour tortilla or a whole-wheat english muffin as the crust. Mmmmm! Pizza! I go back in a little less than 2 weeks to see the nutritionist again and we’re going to start making up sample meal plans that I can use day to day. I think I’m looking at lots of chicken, pork tenderloin, and very lean ground beef/steak as I have to keep the incoming protein count VERY high and the incoming carb count VERY low.

After all of this, I found out Heather was going to have to come home a day early from Boston so that she could be seen in clinic for her IVF cycle. This caused us to jump through a few hurdles and arrange for flight, pick-up, etc. last night rather than this afternoon, but all is well now.

She brought me a gift from her trip, an authentic pair of squirrel underpants. If you don’t believe me check this out…

Apologies, if you’re sick of hearing about my gastric bypass surgery, but this blog is my shrink, so on I go discussing the in’s and out’s of what I’m experiencing. If I hear enough complaints, I’ll exclude these posts from the main page/feed.

Today is the last day of my first week after surgery and also the last day of the dreaded clear liquid diet. I haven’t eaten anything solid or of substance since 9:30PM on 7/4 and no matter how you slice it, consuming liquids with no protein just isn’t “filling”. However, the clear and full liquid weeks are essential to allow the newly shrunken/reconnected stomach to heal. I’ve been really hungry for something with protein and substance, but it looks like I should finally get some starting tomorrow as milk & a few milk-based foods enters the menu. I’ve included the items I may care about from my doctor’s official diet for the remainder of the official schedule and I’ve bolded my favorites. Now, this doesn’t address every food, but it gives some guidance and typically, if not mentioned I’m guessing it comes in the final week if at all. I’ve started trying to find a nutritionist to look into alternatives to foods I’ve loved in the past. I met with one before surgery, but I think I need to look for someone who is more engaged with looking at habits and tastes while helping to shape new choices. For example, I love mexican tacos, enchiladas, burritos with ground beef, lots of cheese, etc. I think in the future I may try to make it at home with ground chicken, enchilada sauce, wild rice, corn, olives, etc. I need a nutritionist to help find these alternatives set me up for the most success. It’s not like I will eat large amounts as a typical portion size for anything (chicken, mashed potatoes, etc.) will be 2 oz. in any given meal.

I also need to deal with what Heather call’s “head hunger”. Even when my stomach isn’t hungry, my head sees food that I enjoy and I “feel” hungry. As I have been told on more than one occasion, I need to learn to eat to live rather than living to eat.

Week 1 (Clear Liquid):

• Water
• Non-carbonated, sugar-free fruit juice
• Low sodium beef or chicken broth

Week 2 (Full Liquid):

• Skim milk
• Low-fat Yogurt that is no sugar added
• Low sodium beef or chicken consomme
• Sugar-free pudding
• Sugar-free popsicles
• Sugar-free hot cocoa
• Protein powder

Week 3 (Pureed):

• Carnation Instant Breakfast (no sugar added)

Week 4 (Soft Foods):

• Scrambled eggs
• Shredded/soft low-fat cheese
• Oatmeal (no sugar)

Weeks 5 & 6:

• Cooked ground chicken and beef
• Soft cooked chopped vegetables
• Mashed potatoes
• Unsalted saltines
• Cold non-sugar coated cereal

Week 7:

• Reduced fat or part skim milk cheese
• Cooked chicken or pork tenderloin
• Smooth peanut butter
• Cooked vegetables
• Raw vegetables & salads
• Grapes, apples, bananas, etc.
• Sliced whole weat bread
• English muffin
• Brown rice
• Fat-ree, sugar-free ice cream
• Pretzels
• Animal or graham crackers

I’m back at home and happy to be here. Heather posted a nice writeup from earlier in my stay, but I thought I would talk about it a little. The surgery got moved up twice (get there at 3:35PM, then 2PM, then 12PM). Unfortunately, I didn’t get taken back for the actual surgery until around 5:30PM, so I spent a lot of time laying around, dozing off, thinking. Not the best combination when you could technically die during the surgery (EXTREMELY low risk), but that’s how things go. Heather posted a pic from early during this time and I thought I would steal it for here

Two doctors tag teamed my operation and I liked both of them just fine. I can’t remember anything from shortly after being rolled into the operating room to when I was rolled into my hospital room where Heather was waiting. I don’t remember being shaved for surgery, nor do I know why they shaved the top of my right leg which has no incisions. As Heather describes me, I looked like I had been hit by a truck. I had/have multiple small, laproscopic incisions around my belly and they are all a little bit sore. I won’t go into all the gory details as I doubt most would want to know them, but the first night and next day were rough. I was getting up and walking on Tuesday, 7/7/09, but I was still having a hard time. I couldn’t keep liquid pain killers down which would pose a problem for when I went home, but the IV pain meds helped. Eventually, it came down to retraining myself. I can’t simply swallow down even small amounts of foul tasting medicine, I have to sip it. 2 oz. of water is supposed to last me about an hour now and I’m supposed to be drinking that every hour I’m awake. The walking and getting up and around got much easier on Wednesday, 7/8/09, and I was finally able to keep medicine down. They cleaned me up, took out my IV and other things, and and sent me home. I walked a good bit this morning and slept most of the time when I got home except for a truly glorious hot shower (I hate feeling sticky, unwashed, etc.). Tomorrow, I begin pushing the walking regimen, keep drinking every hour, and probably manage to eat some sugar-free Jello

If you notice, my weight spiked back to 361 lbs. That is temporary and was the official weight from this morning in the hospital. The spike is due to all the liquids they’ve pumped into me for hydration and that seems to be melting back off fairly quickly (as in it may be pretty much gone tomorrow). If you want to know more details because you’re considering the surgery, contact me directly and I’d be willing to say a bit more than I think my general audience wants to know

Well, let me start off by saying that I am really hungry

I have exactly 17 hours and 19 minutes (Thanks Wolfram Alpha) until I have to be at the hospital tomorrow for surgery. The gastric bypass surgery will actually be at 4PM or so the current plan goes. So, because of the timing I have been on an all clear liquids (or stage 1) diet all day. This diet will continue for the first week after surgery, so basically, I’ve said goodbye to solid food for a while. At this point, I keep thinking I would feel apprehensive or afraid, but I am VERY excited for what the surgery may bring.

It’s actually been a very nice weekend. We took Ben to a wetting down ceremony for a new fire truck in Morrisville, NC on Saturday and then we took a ride on the New Hope Valley Railway today. I’ll leave the details to Heather as I’m quite sure she will post on the whole weekend, but I will leave you with the following videos…

[youtube width="480" height="385"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72GMmiWzFJc[/youtube] [youtube width="480" height="385"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G9QgW3Q8mI[/youtube]